A Treasured Life
by iloveromance
Summary: Niles is ashamed and humiliated when his family discovers his dark secret. But it's Daphne who shows him that his life is something to be treasured. A continuation of sorts of "What Your Worth" a story by Miles2GoBe4ISleep (with permission and many thanks). The rating is for the somewhat disturbing theme, so please read the author's note. Reviews are appreciated!


_**A/N: This is unlike anything I've ever written before and had I not read "What Your Worth" by Miles2GoBe4ISleep, I probably would have never had the courage to write this. That being said, that particular story dealt with Niles inflicting self harm on himself and with all due respect to the author, I have to admit that at first I found it disturbing. However, it's so intriguing that I found myself wanting to read more... But because the story is still unfinished, I decided to write my own ending. I tried to "tone it down" a bit since it is a hard subject to read about, so I hope that you will give this story a chance. That being said, if the author is in fact reading this, I sincerely hope that "What Your Worth" will be continued!** =)_

* * *

Standing beside Martin, Daphne stared at her boss. She'd never seen him like this and it scared her. The things she'd heard through the closed bedroom door as Frasier yelled at Niles both confused and worried her. It wasn't like Niles to arrive at their doorstep looking so frail and meek. The sight was terrifying. He was her friend and she cared for him deeply.

"Damn it, Frasier are you going to tell us what's going on with Niles or aren't you?" Martin demanded. "He's my son and I have a right to know!"

"Yes Dad, I know that. I just-."

"What?"

"Well, it's hard to explain."

"Try me!"

"Dr. Crane, what's this all about?" Daphne demanded. "What's wrong with your brother? I'm worried."

Frasier stared at his father. "Dad, you'd better come with me. Daphne, go... start dinner or something."

She looked up sharply. "Dinner? But it's not even-."

"For God's sake Daphne! Just leave! This is between Dad and I!" Frasier yelled.

Against her protests, Frasier ushered Martin into his bedroom, leaving Daphne alone in the hallway. For a moment, she contemplated returning to her work in the kitchen but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the closed door in front of her.

She knew it was wrong, sticking her nose into Niles' business when she wasn't even part of the family. But she simply had to find out what was going on. If Frasier fired her, so be it. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that she'd lost a job for caring too much.

But she had to know...

Glancing around the hallway, she sighed with relief when she saw no sign of Frasier or Martin. If Frasier's anger was any indication, he and Martin would be discussing whatever was going on with Niles for a while.

As quietly as possible, she opened the door and went inside.

"Dr. Crane? I'm sorry to disturb you but I wanted to see if you were all right."

There was no response, so she moved closer and in the dim light she could see Niles' form huddled under the blankets. She sat down on the bed beside him and touched his shoulder.

"Dr. Crane?"

He woke at once, staring at her through wide eyes.

"Daphne-."

"Are you all right? I'm so worried."

Instantly he recoiled, drawing the sheets and comforter to his chin. He looked like a frightened little boy.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I-."

When she reached for him, he moved away, flinching at her touch. "Go away Daphne! Just leave me alone!"

She stared at him in disbelief, his words cutting into her heart.

"Dr. Crane you can't mean-."

"Leave Daphne! Now! Please!"

She swallowed hard, trying to remember that it was his anger talking and that something must be terribly wrong. He'd never spoken to her so harshly before. Tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall. It was silly getting upset, but it was hard to see him like this; so angry and bitter.

She turned on the light causing him to squint and when she looked at him, he moved even further away from her until his back was flush against the headboard as though he was trying to get away from her. This wasn't like him at all.

"Dr .Crane, I-."

She stopped mid-sentence, unable to believe what she was seeing when his arm appeared from underneath the covers.

"You're bleeding!"

"Daphne, no... I..."

"I'll be right back."

"Daphne, wait!"

But she was already heading for the kitchen. True to her word she returned moments later with a bottle of antiseptic and several cloths.

When she sat down on the bed beside him, he flinched once again. Most likely his arm was causing him pain.

"We'll just get this fixed up for you." She said as she slowly and carefully began to roll up his pajama sleeve.

"Daphne, I'm begging you, please don't-."

"I'll be very gentle. Now this might sting a bit but I promise it won't hurt for very-."

Her eyes widened when she saw the wounds on his arm.

"Dr Crane!"

"Don't... Please..."

She stared at him, unable to believe what she was seeing. Cuts of every shape and size (some of them deep gashes) covered his arm. He looked as though he'd been in some sort of knife fight. Some of the cuts were new and some were faint scars that had been there for quite some time.

For a moment she couldn't speak; couldn't even breathe. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't possible.

"My God... what happened?"

"Daphne, I really wish you would leave."

"Not until you tell me-."

He turned on his side and winced, causing her alarm. She reached for his shirt and against his stern protests began to unbutton it, gasping in horror when she saw the gashes and scars on his chest.

"Daphne, I'm begging you, please..."

Her hand flew to her trembling mouth and she ran her fingers lightly over his chest.

"Wh-who did this to you?"

"I-I ..."

"My God..."

He winced as her eyes moved over his body, seeing the many cuts and gashes that trailed up and down his arms and she shuddered at the thought of how they must have hurt. But it was what she found when her eyes reached his stomach that pained her most of all.

There on his stomach, as though it was carved into his skin, was the word _worthless._

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she rose from the bed. Turning toward him, she moved closer and took his hand.

"Who did this?" She whispered. "Dr Crane, tell me! Who would do such a horrible thing? My God, I- Does your father know?"

"I-I suppose he does... now. Frasier is probably-."

"Is that why he was yelling at you?"

"Well, Daphne he had every right-."

"How can you say that?" She yelled. "He had no right at all! The nerve of him yelling at you when-."

"But it's my fault!" He said, his voice starting to break. "I'm the one who..."

Daphne sighed and brushed away a tear that fell onto his cheek.

"You listen to me, this isn't your fault so don't blame yourself. You do this to yourself all the time, taking the blame for things you have no control over, like your marriage. You did everything you could to continue to love Mrs. Crane and forgive me for saying this but she isn't worth your time! And this..." she looked at the scars and cuts once more. "This is the fault of some horrible, horrible person. Someone who-."

"I'm the horrible person, Daphne! I did this to myself! That's why Frasier was-."

She stared at him in confusion. "I... I don't understand. How could you possibly-."

He was crying openly now, making no effort to hide his tears.

"Of course you don't understand, Daphne. No one does! You have no idea what it's like. I..."

He swallowed hard, unable to look at her. "When I was a kid, the other kids at school were always beating me up, taking my lunch money and of course Frasier dismissed it as though it were a normal thing. Dad didn't care and when Mom died, our relationship grew even worse. We grew further and further apart. I couldn't... talk to him. I thought I could handle that, but then..."

Daphne took his hand in both of hers, rubbing her thumb across his soft masculine skin.

"Maris has frozen my assets and I barely have enough money to eat, let alone to live on. I-I can't even afford the Montana so I've been living in my car. I... I didn't want to say anything because I was ashamed... I mean, I'm a respected psychiatrist and how can I possibly explain..."

Daphne sniffled and began to stroke his hair as though he was a child.

"M-my life is in ruins, my patients think I'm a fraud... and the only one who cares about me is Molly. She's the only one who understands. Funny thing is that I don't even really care about her. Not in the way that I care about... Well it doesn't matter anyway. I was a fool to think that anyone cares about me."

"Dr. Crane stop this right now! Of course people care about you! How can you think that they don't? Your brother and father care about you. Perhaps that's why your brother got so angry. He's frightened and doesn't understand why you would do something like this to yourself. And they aren't the only one who care about you."

"Daphne..."

She brushed away the tears from his cheeks. "I care about you, Dr. Crane. You're a dear, sweet, wonderful man and I hate to see you hurting like this. Now, we'd best be taking care of these wounds before they get infected." She poured some antiseptic onto a cloth and began cleaning his wounds, wincing when he flinched.

"I'm sorry. I know it hurts... I don't mean to hurt you, Dr. Crane. I would never-."

"Then _why_, Daphne?"

The bandages in her hand, she paused and stared at him. "Why _what_?"

"Why did you laugh at me?"

Her hand stilled on his arm. "What are you talking about? I would never-."

"Wh-when I asked you out... to the Italian restaurant. I- Daphne didn't you see what I was trying to do? I was-."

"Oh, but Dr. Crane you couldn't possibly think it would be a good idea for us to go on a date. What would your brother think? He's my boss and it wouldn't be right!"

Niles nodded sadly. "You're right, Daphne. I suppose it was a stupid idea."

To her surprise, he turned away from her and began crying even harder. "Just go, all right?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand." She said quietly.

"It's fine, Daphne. It's not important."

"If it wasn't important, you wouldn't be so upset. So what is it?"

"I just wanted to... I wanted to take you to a romantic dinner and tell you that I love you, but-."

"You what?"

"Just forget it."

"I don't think I can forget it, Dr. Crane. I... you love me? As in?"

"Yes, Daphne I'm in love with you! There I said it! Are you happy now?" He yelled.

Daphne felt tears in her eyes as a wave of guilt poured over her. The pieces began to fit themselves together one by one, leaving the story of a man who had loved her for so long. A man whom she'd come to love (as a friend) and who meant so much to her. He'd loved her for years and she'd had no idea. And just when he'd gotten up the courage to say something, she dismisses him by laughing. Could her laughter have really caused him to...

She stared at his arms once more. "I'm so sorry." She whispered in a broken voice.

\"Daphne, don't blame yourself. It's my fault. I should never have assumed that you'd say yes, although I'd hoped... Seems I've spent my life hoping..."

"I'm so sorry..." She said again.

"Daphne, please don't..."

She brushed the tears from her cheeks and tried to smile. "Let's not talk about it right now. I'll get you all taken care of."

Wordlessly and gently she tended to his wounds, cleaning and bandaging each cut and gash. She considered persuading him to go to the hospital, but she knew that he would never agree, so she could only pray that her efforts would be sufficient. And when she was finished, she smiled at him.

"Those should be all better in the next few days, but we'll watch them to make sure they don't get any worse."

"Thank you, Daphne." He said weakly. "I'm... sorry you had to see this. I'm so ashamed."

"You should be, Niles!" Frasier yelled from the doorway. "What were you thinking? Dear God, man if your patients only knew!"

"Fras, leave him alone!" Martin ordered. "We'll talk about it later!"

"But Dad, look at him!"

"Daphne's taking care of him and that's all that matters! I'm not saying that this doesn't need to be discussed but it doesn't need to be discussed right now! When he's ready to talk about it, he will, but until then we need to respect his privacy."

Martin entered the room and walked toward his son. Niles looked worriedly at Daphne and then at his father.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Niles whispered, hanging his head low.

"So am I, Son. I'm sorry that Frasier's being such a jackass about this."

"Dad!"

"Shut up Fras! Niles, I'm sorry you're going through this and I want you to know that... Well... I care about you."

Niles smiled and patted Martin's hand. "Thanks, Dad."

"Niles, I-."

Niles smiled at his brother. "It's all right, Frasier. I understand."

"All right. Well, we'll leave you alone to rest. Thank you, Daphne for taking such good care of him."

Daphne smiled at Niles and took his hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "It was my pleasure."

When his father and brother were gone, Niles looked at Daphne. "I'm so sorry. I-."

Daphne's fingers went to his lips. "Hush. Now you just rest and don't worry about anything. When you're ready, you can talk to your brother. And when you're feeling better we can go to that lovely restaurant that you mentioned earlier."  
Niles' eyes lit up. "Really?"

"It sounds wonderful and who better to share it with than the most wonderful man I've ever known?"

"Thank you, Daphne. That means so much to me."

"Just relax and try to get some sleep. If you need anything, I'll be right here."

"I will."

His breath caught in his throat when she kissed his lips. And when she saw tears in his eyes, she quickly brushed them away as they reached his cheeks.

"Oh, Dr. Crane, I'm so sorry you're hurting. And if I've upset you in any way..."

"You're an absolute angel; Daphne and you could never hurt me."

"Then why are you crying? This isn't like you at all."

"Because... You've made me so happy. And I didn't think I'd ever be happy again."  
She wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and then took him into her arms. "I can hardly wait until our date." She whispered into his ear.

"I love you, Daphne. I love you so much."

She held him a bit closer and kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Dr. Crane. Sweet dreams."

He gasped in astonishment at her words and she smiled as she covered him with the comforter and kissed him one last time before turning out the light.

When she entered the hallway, Frasier and Martin approached her at once.

"Daphne what in the world is going on in there?" Frasier demanded. "I need to speak to Niles!"

"Your brother is resting right now. You can talk to him later. Now if you want to know what's going on I'll be happy to tell you. But in the living room."

Frasier sighed. "Fine. But I'm worried about him Daphne!"

She hugged Frasier, thinking of the kisses that she'd shared with Niles.

"I know you are, but something tells me that your brother will be just fine."

"Another psychic vision?"

She smiled knowingly. "No... I feel it in my heart."

**THE END**


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